


Latte Love

by agrajag



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 12:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11290506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrajag/pseuds/agrajag
Summary: He may have spent the rest of the day thinking about the guy. He was still feeling incredibly tired and it was almost as if he was straight up asleep and dreaming instead of simply day dreaming. He decided about halfway through his day to head back to Annie's to buy another, albeit smaller, drink only to think he was still lost in his head when he saw the red head behind the counter. Well, Dex according to his name tag."Hi, can I help you?" Dex asked as he flashed Derek an amazing smile.Derek forgot how to speak. Dex was starting to stare at him. Oh God, he must think he was a freak."Uh, yeah, sorry. I'll have a caffe marocchino, two shots of espreso, extra cocoa powder.""It's a little late in the day for something that intense, don't you think?" Dex asked, but he was already making Derek's drink."Yeah, well, uh, I've still got a... looooooong day ahead of me."





	Latte Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt: A has a crush on B in their class who happens to have a part time job as a barista. To practice talking normally with B, A's friends make them order all the time at the cafe and when B finally greets A in class they yell "Yes, I'd like a large number four with whipped cream and mocha chips" and then mortified, A dies in their friend's arms.
> 
> I went a little off script, but no one is surprised.

It was Derek's first day at Samwell University and his first class of the day - English 101. It was a requirement for every student, naturally, but to Derek it was more than just a requirement. It was the beginning of his path for becoming a poet. Well, he _was_ already a poet. Just not a published one... yet.

Though it was far too early to be thinking about that. Or anything, for that matter. How could they possibly expect him to concentrate at eight in the morning? He had been lied to. College was not much different than high school when it came to scheduling.

Derek stopped at a little local coffee shop called Annie's to pick up the biggest coffee they could legally sell to him before making his way to the English building. Everyone else in the classroom seemed to be in the same boat as Derek. It was quiet as they waited for class to start, sipping their drinks as fast as they could without scalding themselves.

Well, there was one exception, Derek noticed after a couple moments. The red head two seats up and one seat to the right from him. He looked like a morning person, but honestly, Derek wasn't going to hold that against him. He was handsome in an unconventional way. He tee was a little too tight, so Derek could very easily admire his muscles. And the freckles. It was too much to handle at eight in the morning. Derek definitely needed to wake up.

He chugged half of his coffee just as the professor walked into the classroom. All they ended up doing for the hour was going over the syllabus and grading scale, but the red head was still dutifully taking notes. Derek couldn't help but smile.

He may have spent the rest of the day thinking about the guy. He was still feeling incredibly tired and it was almost as if he was straight up asleep and dreaming instead of simply day dreaming. He decided about halfway through his day to head back to Annie's to buy another, albeit smaller, drink only to think he was still lost in his head when he saw the red head behind the counter. Well, Dex according to his name tag.

"Hi, can I help you?" Dex asked as he flashed Derek an amazing smile.

Derek forgot how to speak. Dex was starting to stare at him. Oh God, he must think he was a freak.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I'll have a caffe marocchino, two shots of espreso, extra cocoa powder."

"It's a little late in the day for something that intense, don't you think?" Dex asked, but he was already making Derek's drink.

"Yeah, well, uh, I've still got a... looooooong day ahead of me."

Dex laughed. "I understand that. I'm going to be working half the night, and I've been up since 6:30. Had class the whole day."

Derek was going to say, 'I know. I'm in your morning class,' but he was still having trouble with words. Luckily Dex handed him his drink with a quick, 'Here you go. Have a nice night!' and had moved onto the next customer. Derek rushed out the door so he couldn't continue staring awkwardly at Dex and further embarrass himself.

The first sip of his maraocchino was literally heaven. Derek didn't even care if the caffeine content was high enough to keep him awake through his evening class; Dex had made the best coffee Derek had ever had. He thought he'd be able to gather his wits by the next day so he could let Dex know, but he couldn't bring himself to even say hi to him that morning. Or the day after that. Or the next week. The most he was ever able to say to Dex was his order when he'd make his second trip of the day to Annie's. In that case, he said many things to Dex. Only they all happened to be coffee related.

Derek's friend Chowder insisted that it was a start.

"You're talking to him, at least," he said to Derek as he launched a paper football at his head.

"I'm asking him for an iced coffee and then stammering out a quick thanks," Derek muttered. He had his face planted on his folded arms and didn't even flinch when the football hit him. "That's not _actually_ talking."

"But you're practicing. Once you can order without messing up, then you can try talking to him in class."

"How could I ever do that?" Derek threw his hands up in exasperation. "Like, on top of being so good looking, he always has something really insightful to say, even if I don't always agree. But once he enters a conversation in class, I can't participate anymore because I get tongue tied. Like, he's seriously perfect? I hate it."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You keep saying. But he's just a guy like us. You just gotta remember that, and you'll be able to say something."

Derek picked up the paper football and flicked it back to Chowder. "I know you're right. Someday I'll get that through through to the logical part of my brain. And thanks man. You're the best for listening to me go on about this."

Chowder laughed. "Yes. Yes, I am."

The cycle continued for another month, though. Derek would keep telling himself, 'Today's the day. I'm going to talk go him,' but then he'd back out. Until around five when he would drag himself to Annie's and Dex's smile would brighten up his day, but God forbid Derek ever told him that. That wasn't a good first conversation, however, Derek rationalized. He should at least properly introduce himself first before basically confessing his love. His behavior, however, suggested he couldn't trust himself to not do that, so Derek started practicing things he could say to Dex outside of Annie's in order to get an real conversation going. Asking Dex what he thought about the novel they were reading for class, asking him how he'd gotten the nickname Dex since he knew from their professor calling on him that his name was Will, asking him about the different stickers he'd noticed on Dex's notebooks, asking him how he liked working at Annie's. Which, alright, that last one still ended up being about coffee in a way, but Derek honestly just wanted to know everything he could about Dex. He _knew_ in order to do that, he was going to have to talk to him eventually, and he was totally going to do it... someday, but because the universe apparently loved to mess with him, Dex decided to talk to him first.

Derek and a few of their classmates were trickling into the classroom. Dex was already in his seat. He was always the first one there, being a morning person and all. Though Derek had started to suspect he wasn't really. He just seemed to be able to function with barely any sleep (an amazing feet considering he had a packed schedule that could put Derek's to shame) which was the best possible skill to have in college. Derek had taken his usual seat and was blowing on his coffee so he could hopefully start waking up when he saw Dex stand up out of the corner of his eye. He quickly looked down so Dex wouldn't notice he was staring, so he didn't realize Dex was standing in front of his desk until Dex cleared his throat. Derek looked up and prayed to all that was holy that he didn't have whipped cream on his upper lip.

"Hey Derek," Dex said, as if they were old buddies who talked before class started all the time.

Derek's brain immediately shut down. "Name's Derek," he said quickly.

"I, uh, I know," Dex started to say as Derek continued to say quite loudly, "Large cafe cubano with extra sugar and steamed milk."

The other students in the classroom were quiet for a moment before quickly restarting their conversations, not like that was going to save Derek from dying of embarrassment, but he appreciated the gesture never the less. Dex was clearly trying not to laugh and Derek was about to follow up his ill timed coffee order with a plea to pretend it never happened when Dex placed a cookie from Annie's on his desk.

"I brought this for you. It's from last night, so it's not entirely fresh, but it's still good. I mean, obviously. I wouldn't give you something stale." He paused for a moment and started to nervously rub the back of his neck. "Though probably not the best idea. You definitely ingest far too much sugar. You seriously want a cubano on top of that ridiculous drink you've got there?"

"No, no. I know I drink far too much coffee. I can barely function in the morning."

"Is that why you only talk to me when you come into the shop?" Dex asked. He looked almost hopeful and Derek was starting to put the pieces together. Knowing that he wasn't alone in his pining, he suddenly was able to string words together in the presence of Dex.

"No, I couldn't talk to you because I was so intimated because you seem like the perfect guy. Glad to know you're also bad at this."

Dex turned bright red and stammered a bit before finally saying, "You're awful. I don't even know why I like you."

"Because I've serenaded you with my various poetic sounding coffee orders over the past couple of months."

"Yeah, that's exactly it," Dex said with a laugh. "So, can I take you out sometime? To get something other than coffee?"

Derek smiled. "Yes, I'd love that."

**Author's Note:**

> look bad latte puns will always be funny ok


End file.
